Third Time's the Charm
by ellieloves2read
Summary: Their relationship changed. Chapter 1 Post Avengers. Chapter 2 Pre Captain America: The Winter Soldier. After watching Captain America: The Winter Soldier, I just cannot help myself. Their onscreen chemistry were off the roof!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"Avengers"

"Third Time's the Charm"

Disclaimer: Not mine.  
After watching Captain America: The Winter Soldier, the chemistry between these two bothers me so much (in a good way) that I just have to write them out of my brain!

This is my 2nd story in the world of fan fiction, and English is not my first language. Every mistakes that I made are my own.

Their relationship changed.

At first, he acknowledged her as a fellow soldier, even though the correct term to describe her would be 'extraordinaire spy femme fatale'. He kept his distance at a respectable length, a professional length. Not to mention, the situation did not exactly allow them the time for a friendly chit chat.

Even if he thought that she was the most beautiful creature he ever laid eyes on, he would not act on it. Let's not kid around thinking that he had the guts to do so. History had proven that the only time he had the courage to ask a girl out was when he was about to crash himself on ice. He had accepted the fact that when it came to women, he was a hapless chap. Furthermore, she was NOT an ordinary woman, and he said that with only the best intention in mind.

Before getting on board the helicarrier, SHIELD had given him the files on all the team which was now known as the Avengers. He read of her past, her statistics, her abilities, and so on. But still, it was hard to match the written report with the lady who welcomed her on the helicarrier.

She walked lithely. He almost didn't hear her steps even with his enhanced hearing. It was Phil Coulson who alerted him of her presence with a simple introduction, "Agent Romanoff, Captain Rogers." So awed was he seeing her face to face for the very first time, he had no other words to say but "Ma'am." No sane man would've called Natasha Romanoff "Ma'am," but in his defense, he was frozen for 70 years, surely people would give him some slack for his lack of suaveness, not that he had any to begin with.

She told Coulson that he was needed in the bridge and so he excused himself and went right away, leaving him alone with her. There was a certainty in the way she speaks. She was a woman whose words were irrefutable. Instinctively he knew that to cross this woman would be bad for his health, for any man's health. He briefly thanked the Lord they were in the same team.

"It was quite the buzz around here, finding you in the ice. I thought Coulson was gonna swoon. Did he ask you to sign his Captain America trading cards yet?" There was a touch of a smile on her face while she was speaking. He couldn't help a smile appearing on his own face, especially remembering his interaction with Phil Coulson on the jet earlier.

It was refreshing to know that there was another side to the infamously-lethal Black Widow, a playful side he knew she would only show to those she deemed worthy. She had made her own assessment of him, and whatever it was that she saw that made her put him in the "worthy" pile, he was grateful for it.

++++  
New York was the first time he saw her in action. He heard that she had successfully tricked the trickster, outran the Hulk, and fisted some sense back to Hawkeye all in the span of a day. So he knew what she was capable of. But he still found it very hard to stop himself from shielding her from any attack.

Not because he didn't trust her to defend herself. He did very much trust her. After all, he was the one who asked her to come to New York to fight alongside him. And he trusted her judgement. If she said she could do it, he believed she could. He was just temporarily blindsided with how small she was. The top of her head only reached his shoulder for goodness sake; can't blame him for being a bit overprotective towards her.

However, after seeing the ease in which she moved and maneuvered herself amongst the aliens, tackling them down one by one, sometimes two or three in one sweep, he hoped for his sake, she would never be privy to his previous thought.

Ever since his transformation, women had been flocking to him like moths to a flame. The problem was, he knew they were all blinded by his looks. Should they have met the "him" from before, they would not have given him the time of day. None would look pass his fragile physique to really see the man inside; none but Dr. Erskine and Peggy. They saw something in him, something he didn't even know he had. The deciding factor that allowed him to be the man he is today.

As for Peggy, the attraction between them did not start at the same time. His eyes were the first to follow her, captivated by her poise, courage, and strength. She, in turn, was intrigued by him, but her eyes didn't really follow him back up until his transformation. He couldn't fault her for that, they were in war, and she was more focused on her duty to her country than starting a relationship. But after his transformation, he had the ability to do what his body could never do before; the ability to better serve his country. He believed, for Peggy, that was where the attraction started.

Swamped as they were with mission after mission, a war to win, they didn't really have the time to voice their feelings. Even until the very end, Peggy was a promise of love. A promise that he could not fulfilled.

Looking at the woman beside him now, sitting silently while the rest of the team were chomping on their shawarmas, cuts and bruises on her face, with a serene expression only she could pull off after the ordeal they faced, he couldn't help but think that he had been given a new chance at love. A new promise he wished he could fulfill.

Ellie: Love it? Hate it? So so? Please review and let me know. Would love to hear your opinions.

There's gonna be another chapter of this. Chapter 2 "Captain America: The Winter Soldier".  
Thanks for reading!


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**"Third Time's the Charm"**

**Disclaimer: Not mine.**

**This is my 2nd story in the world of fan fiction and English is not my first language. Every mistakes that I made are my own.**

**As requested by Littlesister007 and MissGwynnyFaye, I've added some conversations. I hope it was alright.**

**Thanks to Je-Dormir, The Mocha Witch Question, Queen of Erebor, and ym4yum1 for reviewing! ('',)**

****  
Everyone called him "Captain Rogers" and "Captain" or "Cap" for short. Natasha called him "Rogers" when she was in her controlled formal mode, "Captain" when HE was in his controlled formal mode,  
"Cap" when she was feeling mischievous, and the elusive "Steve" when she was feeling something towards him that he wished was somewhat affectionate in nature.

He liked the elusive "Steve", no matter how seldom she said it. It was the rarity itself that intrigued him. Steve liked hearing Natasha said his name like that, not that he would ever tell her that, he would be too embarrassed, and she just might reverted back to calling him "Rogers", or worse, "Captain Rogers".

After New York, he was an established S.H.I.E.L.D special agent. It was not an around-the-clock job, they only called him for special cases and such. But since the hype of New York brought him an overnight hero status, S.H.I.E.L.D decided it would be better for him to be relocated to Washington D.C., near The Triskelion.

Steve had no objection with that; He got his own apartment, he was free to explore on his own, and they only called him once in a blue moon. He had thought they would have called him to assist Stark when Mandarin appeared, but they didn't. He was told that the matter falls on another agency's jurisdiction and S.H.I.E.L.D would not interfere. He did, however, was called to assist Thor when report came of a terrestrial ship attacking Greenwich, London.

The call came when he was sketching on his apartment. Trained to be always on the go in moment's notice, he immediately rushed to The Triskelion. He was not surprised to see Natasha there, already geared up, and took control of the jet that will carry them to London. They were partners after all. He counted only 2 missions were carried out without her presence. And that was 2 missions too much, if you asked him.

"Hey," Natasha greeted him with a slight nod of her head once she saw him aboard the jet, "are you ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be. I was actually looking forward to a quiet night. Don't think that's in store for me now. How long is the flight?"

"7 hours give or take," she whipped her hair and looked him in the eyes with that glint in her eyes, "bet you 100 bucks I could get us there in 6."

This was their thing. Ever since she knew about the bet he made with Fury, she had been challenging him to a bet any chance she got, and since they were basically partners, there were a lot of chances.

"No no, I've learned my lesson never to bet against you again. You won most of our bet!" He stressed out as he took his seat next to her and secured the seat belt.

"Oh come on, Cap, resistance is futile. You know you want to," she inquired further.

"I like that. That was good." He said in response.

"Like what? What's good?" There was curiosity on her tone now.

"What you said earlier. Resistance is futile." He answered. "You should use that on your next interrogation session."

When she did not replied, he turned to look at her and found that she was watching him with that mysterious smile on her beautiful face. The kind of smile that make his insides turn upside down.

She shook her head as if he was amusing her, accompanied with the elusive "oh Steve…"

"What?" He asked in confusion.

She just shook her head again and responded to her ear comm. "We are ready for takeoff. Permission to take off on runway 1"

They did not talk again until they were already on the air, even then she did not answer his previous question and rather decided on to their next thing; match making sessions, in which she pointed out "sexy Lucy" or "beautiful Clara" or "Smart Amy" and other women for him to go out on dates with. Any woman but her.

"Do you know Laura from Mission Report?"  
Steve let out a frustrated breath and replied "Yes, what of her?"

"I overheard her saying to Cindy from Finance how giddy she was every time you come to her desk to submit your mission report. You should follow up on that."

"I'm going to take your suggestion and put it in my mission report under things to be followed up section," he replied candidly, which he did a lot in her presence.

He glanced at her and saw the side of her lips turn up into a smirk. He could not help but smile in return. After that, they spent the rest of their flight listening into ground Intel from Greenwich. It was a relief when the report that Thor had won finally came. They continued their flight there, to assess if the earth should prepare for another attack or if it was a one-off attack only. They were hoping to catch up with Thor and have him explain the incident.

Of course they got there in 6 hours. She was competitive even without him agreeing to the bet.

***PAGE BREAK***

He was on his way to submit his mission report, when he remembered his conversation with Natasha and became self conscious. Laura from Mission Report was indeed very giddy to see him. She was trying to chat him up while he was trying his hardest to leave without hurting her feeling.

He was concocting a reason for his "planned" emergency leave when his heightened senses alerted him of her presence.

"Hey Cap, are you done with that? You are needed elsewhere." Natasha tilted her head while looking in question to the befuddled girl in front of her. Laura responded with an overeager head nodding. Being in the presence of the Black Widow can be very intimidating, he understood that.

"Good then, off we go. Thanks, Laura," Natasha said sweetly. The girl mumbled her reply and nodded her head again, repeatedly.

Steve said his "thank you" and walked out with Natasha on his side. "Must you do that? I fear the girl will have a neck cramp from all the obsessive nodding."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." She deflected cheerfully.

Steve let out an out-of-character chuckle and replied, "of course you don't. Now, where am I needed?"

By then the elevator had reached the ground floor and they went out into the Lobby. The big windows made the space bright and airy. It was bustling with agents coming and going, minding their own business.

Steve looked down to her figure and immediately in awed. She was beautiful in the dark and magnificent in the light. He could have sworn he stopped breathing for a while.

"You are needed here because I have to give you this," she took his hand out and dropped a little notebook on his palm. "And don't complain I lied about you needed elsewhere. I know you were about to spurt out a ridiculous reason to get out of there yourself."

That reply caused him to chuckle again. He tried to ignore the fact that the Black Widow initiated physical contact with him, and how much he liked the warm of her palm on his. "I appreciate you bailing me out. But do you mind explaining to me why you feel like you HAVE to give me a notebook?"

Natasha walked 4 steps in front of him, turned her back to look at him, the light were shining brightly on her back, cocooning her with their warm hues, and she replied with a smile on her face, "Education; Or in your case, popular culture education. I can't have you ignoring my references any longer! I've listed some things for you in there. Feel free to note down anything on your own. There's going to be a test, better get to it."

She gave him a challenging look, turned her back and left him there, in the bright lobby, holding tight to a little notebook.

"Resistance is futile, Steve," she called out happily while making her grand exit.

She was badly mistaken to use that sentence on him; he had no intention of resisting.

**Ellie: would love to hear your opinion. Like it? Hate it? In between?**


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